Despising Shame: Honor Discourse and Community Maintenance in the Epistle to the Hebrews

Rating:
Summary: Socio-Rhetorical Approach in the Epistle to the Hebrews
Review: The book is an innovation to the bibliography of the Epistle to the Hebrews. The author applies a type of analysis that combines the methods of sociological approach and rhetorical criticism. During the past, a lot of rhetorical approaches took place on the Epistle to the Hebrews, but none of these approaches took into account the social status of the recipients of the Epistle or the values of honor and shame that according to the book direct the language of the text. Desilva, in the whole book, examines the rhetorical techniques of the author of the Hebrews in comparison with the principles and methods of the rhetorical handbooks of the ancient world. Therefore he turns to Aristotle, Isocrates, Cicero, Stoics and Quintilian. Honor and shame are examined also in the books of the Old Testament (Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Ben Sira, 4 Maccabees and Proverbs).During that period, Christians had a very specific social status. They were a minority culture with particular characteristics and ideas that marginalized them from the world they lived. We learn from the text of Hebrews that the recipient community was in front of the danger to abandon their faith because of the difficulties they had already passed. The author of the Epistle is trying to persuade them to endure all these difficulties by stressing the example of Christ's Passion (12:2). It seems to me very important that the relationship between believers and Christ is placed in another level, that of honor and shame, pivotal values for Mediterranean people, or the model of patron and clients. These are two models borrowed from Social Sciences and especially from Cultural Anthropology, as they put into practice in New Testament Interpretation. They help us to understand behaviour and life of the ancient persons. One characteristic model of Desilva's approach is the example of martyrs of chapter eleven, the most rhetorical point of Hebrews, be viewed under the light of anthropological methods of analysis. The author of the book has made use of the sociological models have been used in New Testament Interpretation by J. Elliott, B. Malina and J. Neyrey. Another characteristic example is the figure of Abraham or that of Moses. Upon all these figures and events, Christ's Incarnation and Passion compose the shattering example for the believers according to honor and shame language. Very interesting is also is the sociological model of exchanging gift. In chapter six, this model is used to describe the exchanging grace for wrath. The recipient community has two opportunities. Either to glorify God or either to cause His wrath with their stance. Here there are positive or negative examples from Israel's history. Author's opinion is that Hebrews belongs to the deliberative kind of rhetorical speech and that has been influenced by Platonic Philosophy. Anyway it's a very useful book for New Testament Hermeneutics.